Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Bigfoot was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1880 on.
The Bigfoot post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bigfoot is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bigfoot’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (34% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bigfoot’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bigfoot.
The area was first settled around 1865 and was originally called Connally's Store, named after Bob Connally. By 1880, D.T. Winters had set up a cotton gin and gristmill in the area. When James Connally established a post office in 1883, he named the community Bigfoot, in honor of Texas Ranger William A.A. “Bigfoot” Wallace, a well-known local resident.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bigfoot’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Bigfoot itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Bigfoot’s post office has been open since 1883.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Bigfoot post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Bigfoot is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
0.0% of Bigfoot’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1998.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
2018
2004
